10 TV Deleted Scenes That Would Have Improved Their Shows
When the best parts are chopped.
Just like the movies, most TV shows have a wealth of footage left over once shooting has wrapped up. It's down to the showrunner and the directors to decide what gets left on the cutting room floor, and admittedly most of the time it is filler content that's best left unseen.
Scenes are usually scrapped for a leaner runtime or for creative purposes, but whatever the reason, the fans often get to see them when the Blu-ray box set arrives in stores, or they leak onto the internet.
TV deleted scenes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from extra gags in sitcoms to bonus battles in action-driven dramas, and on rare occasions, they're no less compelling than the material in the final cut - and some would even have enriched the show in question.
Although unused footage isn't quite as prevalent in the world of television, compared to the film industry, there are plenty of must-see deleted scenes from your favourite programmes that have found their way online, and some of them might even change the way you view the entire show.
10. The Devil Auditions To Play Mr. Burns - The Simpsons
In the classic Simpsons episode A Star Is Burns, Mr Burns attempts to make a biopic with Senor Spielbergo at the helm. Several actors are considered for the lead role, including Hannibal Lecter, but none can quite nail his catchphrase, "excellent".
In this deleted scene, another candidate comes close to conjuring the required malevolence: the devil himself. In this rib-tickling sequence, Satan has a stab at impersonating the nuclear power plant owner, and does a decent job of it.
"He can be my understudy," Burns declares while Smithers and Spielbergo look uneasy. Although this scene wouldn't have radically altered the course of the episode, bonus gags are always welcome, especially funny ones.
Who knows why this joke was cut? Perhaps Fox felt it was too surreal for The Simpsons, although that didn't stop them including an exchange between God and Ned Flanders, in which the Almighty answers Ned's prayer with an "Okily Dokily".